Hello! Welcome to the latest Geeky Brummie Games Release Roundup!

This week, spotlights, The Ultimate Lifeform and a generational war.

Re-Releases and Ports

Yakuza Kiwami now has a Switch port, meaning that the adventures of Kazuma Kiryu are now also on a Nintendo system at last. In the remake of Kiryu’s first outing, he is back on the streets after ten years in prison, only to find his sworn brother is a ruthless crime boss and his childhood sweetheart is missing. Expect a heartfelt serious crime drama attached to a game where a guy in an eyepatch dresses in drag just so he can come and fight you. Standard Yakuza game, then.

New Releases

Batman: Arkham Shadow (PC – Meta Quest) is a VR game set in the Batman universe, following on from Batman: Arkham Origins. You play as Batman (obviously) as he attempts to take down the Rat King. It’s a game where you get to be Batman in VR, which sounds great if you’re into that sort of thing.

Developed by Camouflaj (Iron Man VR, Republique) and published by Oculus Studios.

Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 (PC, PlayStation, Xbox) is out this week. This series still remains bafflingly popular, but by this point you know if you’re playing this or not. I am not.

Developed by Treyarch and Raven Software and published by Activision.

Wilmot Works It Out (PC) is the follow-up to Wilmot’s Warehouse, a puzzle game about obsessively sorting boxes. In this game, Wilmot unwinds from his day job by sorting puzzle pieces so he can create beautiful artwork for his wall. A very cute and quirky puzzle game.

Developed by Hollow Ponds (Hohokum, Flock, Wilmot’s Warehouse) and published by Finji (Tunic, Chicory: A Colorful Tale, Night in the Woods).

Romancing SaGa 2: Revenge of the Seven (PC, PlayStation, Switch) is a remake of the 1993 Super Famicom RPG that saw you play as a series of kings across generations of battle. I played a preview build of this a few months ago and enjoyed it quite a lot, so hopefully the full game lives up to that.

Developed and published by Square Enix.

Sonic x Shadow Generations (PC, PlayStation, Switch, Xbox) is a reworking of Sonic Generations, with a new game starring The Ultimate Lifeform himself, Shadow the Hedgehog. It features a hub world inspired by Sonic Frontiers and a selection of stages based on past Shadow adventures. Also a DLC stage based on the upcoming Sonic 3 movie, where Shadow’s voice changes to that of Keanu Reeves.

Developed by Sonic Team (guess) and published by Sega.

Game of the Week

Game of the Week is Fear the Spotlight (PC, PlayStation, Switch, Xbox), a low-poly horror game about the dangers of Ouija boards.

You play as Vivian, a high school bookworm who is good friends with the goth girl Amy. Together, they break into the school at night to find the Ouija board that’s part of a current display in an attempt to use it. However, this does seem to unleash something terrifying, which may or may not have something to do with the tragic school fire in 1991.

Fear the Spotlight is the first indie game to receive publishing assistance from Blumhouse. Yes, the movie studio who released M3gan and Get Out. They’re getting into games now. And they seem to have picked a strong game to start with. I played the demo and that small snippet featured an ominous atmosphere, a tense chase sequence involving fire, classic survival horror puzzles and teasers for potential plot threads that could turn out extremely rewarding to uncover. Plus there’s a cool goth girl in it, which is always a plus.

Developed by Cozy Game Pals and published by Blumhouse Games.